The Recipes You Should Be Cooking in October

Celebrate autumn with this vibrant chicory salad, featuring sweet roasted delicata squash, crisp apples, and a savory seed and seaweed granola. The black tahini dressing adds a nutty, creamy richness that ties the ingredients together beautifully.

Warm spices and caramelized onions underscore the natural sweetness of pumpkin and butternut squash in this comforting dish. The easy swirl of ginger butter at the end adds a bit of flavor and a lot of style.

“This salad is all about texture. The crispy chicories, jammy dates, and crunchy walnuts are very satisfying,” says Kelly Mariani, chef at Scribe Winery, in Sonoma County.

This recipe is just as wonderful with kabocha squash. You can buy the mushroom dashi online.

Fruits, nuts, Fuyu persimmons, and two kinds of chicory (frisée and radicchio) go into this generous but light salad. Toss it at the last minute so it stays crisp.

Warm and comforting, this chowder combines the smoky richness of black cod with hearty potatoes, tender kale, and a hint of vermouth. The addition of tomatoes and a square of kelp or kombu deepens the flavors, creating a nourishing and satisfying soup.

Though pumpkin-flavored dishes are usually sweet, this recipe combines pumpkin purée and chickpeas for a smoky, savory hummus that’s perfect for fall entertaining. Serve it in a wide bowl so there’s plenty of room for the generous toppings.

Fall doesn’t have to mean heavy apps and sides. This ultra-creamy, Middle Eastern–style appetizer dip created by cookbook author Janet Fletcher is also excellent with raw cucumbers. If you make your own yogurt cheese, you’ll need to start it 24 hours ahead of making this dish.

Experience the rich umami flavors of koji-marinated pork loin, a Japanese-inspired dish that’s sure to become a favorite. The koji marinade tenderizes the pork and enhances its natural flavors. Paired with a vibrant shiso shishito chimichurri, this dish is perfect for a special occasion or a weeknight dinner.

A hearty vegetarian main, this rustic-luxe dish is shot through with the essence of saffron.

For the easiest prep and biggest hit of flavor, slather the meat with tangy pomegranate-molasses marinade ahead of time; ditto for the tahini dressing. Then it’s quick to grill! Slice the lamb, mix it with mint, pomegranate seeds, and the dressing, and set it out with lettuce and warm pita breads.

Curry paste is a prime example of the kitchen adage that from scratch is always best. The aromatics are unrivaled when using fresh ingredients, plus using a mortar and pestle is a great way to get out your pent-up frustrations. If you haven’t yet utilized krachai, a pungent medicinal rhizome also known as fingerroot, now is a fantastic time to start. The root, which resembles a hand, can be found in many Asian supermarkets, and of course ordered online.

Cooking with store-bought cubed squash saves time on weeknights. You can sub in almonds or walnuts for the pistachios.

Figs get a nice jammy texture as they cook with chicken in the garlic-honey sauce. For crisp chicken skin, resist the urge to spoon sauce over it during baking.

Brilliant orange roasted pumpkin replaces the traditional mashed-potato topping here, giving new life to classic English pub grub.

Hard cider—low in alcohol, not too sweet, and gently flavorful—works beautifully in savory dishes. Here it adds a subtle apple note and keeps the meat juicy. Serve with egg noodles or mashed sweet potatoes.

You can assemble and chill the lasagna a day ahead, but add 10 to 15 minutes to the baking time. You can also freeze the lasagna, wrapped well in plastic wrap, for up to 1 month and bake it frozen (add 1 1/4 hours to the oven time).

In this healthy weeknight dinner, thyme and arugula keep the sweetness of the grapes in balance. Nearly all the cooking is done on a single baking sheet.

Basically an open-face pie, this galette is a great dessert for pie-phobes to make because the crust is so easy to handle–you don’t even need a pie pan.

Our favorite new way to serve Fuyu persimmons (the ones that look like tomatoes) is in this juicy, spicy pie, which accents their delicate fruitiness with cinnamon and lemon. For the best flavor, let the persimmons ripen at room temperature until they’re bright orange and have a slight give; this may take as long as a week. You’ll need an old-fashioned (but very useful) jelly roll pan. Not to be confused with a rimmed baking sheet, a jelly roll pan is only 1 in. deep and 10 by 15 in. across the inner surface, a good size for baking cookies and toasting nuts too. You’ll also need an oval-shaped cookie cutter or small knife.

This warmly spiced brittle is the perfect fall snack or dessert.

It’s best to poach the pears a day before making the galette.

The canned pumpkin in the batter keeps these cupcakes moist, reducing the amount of oil you need to use.